RE: SQZ27 Jan 2025 11:36
Serica Energy (AIM: SQZ) boss Chris Cox aims to buy up aging UK assets as “the fiscal regime in the North Sea can’t really get any worse than it is right now.”
The Serica chief executive explained how his firm has changed its attitude towards the UK as it laid out plans to explore merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the North Sea.
“The UK, we think, holds some opportunity,” Cox told Energy Voice.
“Part of the reason there’s an opportunity is that it’s not very attractive for very many people.”
The firm, which was once looking to pick up assets in Norway, now sees an opportunity to pick up bargains as investors abandon the basin.
“There are people that want to exit, there are people that want to reduce their exposure to the North Sea, there are folks that are looking to partner,” he added.
Unrealistic Norwegian prices and optimism for UK assets
In recent months, UK oil and gas players have attempted to shield themselves from the country’s steep 78% tax rate.
US operator Apache revealed plans to exit the basin by 2030, the UK’s largest producer, Harbour Energy (LON:HBR), diversified its portfolio through the $11.2billion acquisition of German rival Wintershall Dea and London-based supermajor Shell (LON:SHEL) combined its assets with Norwegian state-owned firm Equinor.
It is for this reason, that Serica is looking to its tried-and-true method of picking up ageing assets and extracting additional value from them.
As other firms attempt to hide from the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), or windfall tax, Cox sees a glimmer of hope for the UK, although he admitted: “I don’t have a crystal ball and I might be wrong”.
He commented: “My view is, the fiscal regime in the North Sea can’t really get any worse than it is right now and so if you think whatever comes after the EPL is going to be better than the EPL, then the value of people’s assets is going to go up over time rather than down.”
Cox added “I quite like the idea of buying at the bottom of a cycle” and, he believes, that the UK “might be at the bottom of the cycle right now,” prompting a renewed interest in the country.
This is a change of pace from Serica’s previous sentiment around UK investment.
Ahead of the UK’s autumn budget, CFO Martin Copeland told Energy Voice that the firm was looking to acquire assets in Norway.
However, since Cox was named CEO in May, attitudes towards the UK have shifted, not in small part due to the attention others have shown the country’s Nordic cousin.
“Lots of people are interested in assets in Norway and as a consequence, every M&A process is competitive in Norway,” Cox added.
“We looked at a few things in Norway after I joined, and my view is the people who have stuff to sell in Norway have unrealistic expectations of what they might get for their assets.”